


... Never Say Die

by RileyMasters



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Feel-good, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Movie Watching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26539705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RileyMasters/pseuds/RileyMasters
Summary: It only took a few months for a routine to finally settle.Or, one of Nile's coping strategies to deal with the aftermath of everything.
Relationships: Nile Freeman & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Kudos: 44





	... Never Say Die

It only took a few months for a routine to finally settle. 

Early every morning, Nile would run at least five miles, a hold over from her military days. Once she changed, she’d join Joe and Nicky for breakfast (Andy, too, if she was awake/around). After that was a revolving set of lessons, either learning various weapons, a crash course in languages, or a practical trip into town, usually combining buying dinner with other lessons.

At night was where the routine got a little… let rigid.

Some nights, she would go to bed early and scroll through photos of her old life, missing her mom and Layne something awful. Other nights, she’d join everyone for drinks and reminiscing on the past. She learned a lot about her new family on those nights.

But every once in a while, she just wouldn’t be tired. After Joe and Nicky headed to bed, and Andy to wherever she decided to go at night (likely to a bar or someone else’s bed), Nile would head downstairs and put on some of her old favorite movies.

She kept away from the animated Disney films, because no one in the house needed to see her ugly-cry to _Coco_ or _Moana_ or even _Wall-e_ yet. But _Black Panther_ was a frequent watch, along with any Studio Ghibli movie. She’d watch _The Sandlot_ and _Holes_ , both part of Layne’s favorites.

Basically, all the feel-good classics from her childhood.

Five months in, she was curled up watching yet another cult classic, when she was finally caught.

“Nile?”

She turned away from the television to see a rumpled Nicky in the doorway of their tiny living room, brown hair messy from sleep.

“Hey Nicky.”

He joined her on the couch, sparing a glance at the near silent tv as he did. “Could you not sleep?” he asked, concerned.

She gave him a small smile before letting her eyes drift back to the screen. “Not really.”

“So you’re watching… a film?” He paused, trying to figure out exactly what she was watching. 

Her smile became a bigger grin. “Yeah. Layne and I used to watch this one every time it came on, even if it always had commercials right at the good parts. But this version had all the deleted scenes in it!”

As the movie came back from it’s break, Nicky’s face lit up. “Oh, this film. Joe and I saw it when it was released. It’s rather well done!”

Nile laughed. “You saw it in theaters? Jealous!” 

They shared a look of contentment before settling down together to watch the last few scenes. As the credits started to scroll, Nicky looked back at Nile.

She was curled up next to him, sound asleep.

He carefully shifted to grab a throw blanket and settled it over the both of them. “Rest well, _sorellina_ , and never say die.” He let his own eyes drift shut.

**Author's Note:**

> [RayByAnotherName](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayByAnotherName) has a headcanon for Nile’s brother to be named Layne, so I’m running with it here.
> 
> It’s apparently “Talk Like a Pirate Day” and _The Goonies_ is one of my cult-classic favorites. (Plus, one of my favorite games, _Lego Dimensions_ , had a _Goonies_ level and I now love that game even more). Considering how often I watched it on TV growing up, I can’t imagine that Nile wouldn’t have seen it at least once. (It also holds a special place in my heart, as it was one of the films my dad and I would watch every time we could, but especially in the last year of his life. So, yeah.)
> 
> I'm over on [Tumblr](https://remembermenever.tumblr.com/) if you want to scream about the movie with me. Because I have _feelings_ about it.


End file.
